It's time for Mike Tomlin to find an acountabili-buddy, and it just may be the guy in the mirror.
You remember the episode of "South Park" where Butters was sent to camp and each kid was given an accountabili-buddy to keep them from having "impure" thoughts? Coach Tomlin needs someone to step up and make the right decisions in the wake of the franchise's most embarrassing loss since the 2002 travesty at the hands of the expansion Texans at Heinz Field.
Tomlin needs to shed the king cool attitude for a week, and tear some people to shreds, both publicly and privately.
He needs to call out his offensive coordinator for having no clear-cut identity in mind for a unit with two Super Bowl MVP receivers, two starting-quality RBs, an ever-improving offensive line, and a $100 million QB.
He needs to call out that aforementioned QB - as soon as he's lucid enough to hear the calls - for making some terrible decisions in the red zone this year.
He needs to call out his special teams coach for not reinforcing the simple idea of running in a straight line and tackling.
He needs to call out his veteran leaders on defense - James Farrior chief among them - and ask them if they're getting old and tired or just playing like it in getting beat both deep and sideline-to-sideline.
Most of all, he needs to call out himself, and question how he can seize the attention of an increasingly apathetic team that seems to be all too satisfied with two Super Bowl championships in four seasons. This is the stiffest test Mike Tomlin has faced yet as a head coach. His top two QBs may be out for an extended period of time, his All-World Tasmanian devil of a safety is as well, and if the playoffs started today his team wouldn't qualify.
He needs someone to step up and take control of this team. Someone not afraid to step on toes, put veterans in their place, and question the desire and intensity of every single man on the roster. When Tomlin came in to Latrobe for his first training camp, he was that guy. He feared no one in molding the Pittsburgh Steelers in his image. Since then there have been disgruntled vets who left, there has been a Super Bowl championship, and there have been new faces added to the fold. One man remains the same though, nearly unchanged from who he was two years ago.
It's time for Mike Tomlin to remember that and hold himself accountable.
It was arguably the worst game the Penguins have played under Dan Bylsma.
Nobody skated. Nobody checked. Nobody finished. Nobody looked all that interested.
It was ugly.
The silver lining of Thursday night's 6-2 loss in Ottawa is pretty easy to find, though.
Still no Brooks Orpik. Still no Tyler Kennedy. Or Kris Letang. Or Alex Goligoski.
Segei Gonchar hadn't played in three weeks and still looked like a #1 defenceman. Deryk Engelland looked like an AHLer for the first time since being called up from Wilkes-Barre. Max Talbot hadn't skated in anger since June. And despite getting robbed by Pascal Leclaire on his best chance of the game, Sidney Crosby still skated his rear off 99% of the time.
A team that beaten up by injuries, showing that little emotion, on the road against a home-ice monster like the Senators, and you should probably expect a 6-2 loss.
Saturday night in Atlanta the Pens will face a talented team looking to put a chink in the defending champs' armor, but Gonchar & Talbot will be one game smoother, Orpik will be back, and there's no way possible the rest of the team can put forth as poor an effort as the one they served up in Ottawa.
In hockey - especially in the NHL during an Olympics-compressed schedule - it's incredibly easy to turn things around, and to turn them around quickly. When you're the most talented team in the NHL and average three games a week until February, redemption is no more than 48 hours away.
Seriously, Marian Hossa is just sitting in a dark hotel room by himself, mumbling in Slovak and poking little Penguins' voodoo dolls with thousands upon thousands of needles, right?
As Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik got back to full-contact practice at The Igloo today, and were joined by fellow blueliner Kris Letang in a red "non-contact jersey," Head Coach Dan Bylsma announced that defenceman Jay McKee will be out 2-4 weeks now with an infected finger.
You've gotta be Bud Adams-ing, right?!?!
The good news, if there is any in losing even more continuity in the 'Guins lineup, is that - no disrespect to McKee - they'll be getting back a bigger piece than they lost when either Gonch or Orpik, or both, gets back on the ice tonight in Ottawa.
The better news is that one of the energy guys, one of the muckers and grinders that's really been missed over the past few weeks, Max Talbot, will be back tonight as well. Until Tyler Kennedy is healthy again, the Penguins will be down a finisher, but with the "superstar" (chicka-chee-cheeeee) back, the emotional boost to this lineup should be immeasurable. And before we degrade Talbot's shot, go back and watch the tape of Game 7 against Detroit again.
So again, the M*A*S*H* unit's names have changed, but the task remains the same for the Penguins:
Get those voodoo dolls away from Hossa!
I hate to agree with Scott Boras on ANYTHING, but Jayson Stark brought it up today on Mike & Mike, and it's a wonder it doesn't become an issue more often: The Pirates are cheating the system.
Every year MLB teams pay into a revenue-sharing pool from certain streams, and every year lower income teams benefit from the ginormous amount of money made by the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Angels of the world. While it doesn't necessarily have to go directly back into payroll - doing that would create a lot more Derek Bell and Matt Morris situations than you'd care to think about - it should be MANDATORY that the money is traced, and put directly back into baseball operations. If not, there should be more than just a luxury tax-similar punishment administered, especially in the case of teams that make money off of revenue sharing year after year after year and never make any attempt to field a competitive team.
While it will probably never be proven, the common perception is that Pirates ownership - the Nutting Family in particular - cashes a check from the Steinbrenners and NewsCorp's of the world every winter and before the ink is even dry on the back of it has spent the money on snow-making machines and ski lifts for 7 Springs.
That might not be completely fair, but if the Nuttings want to prove that suggestion wrong, the solution is simple: Open the books, and prove that they're not fleecing the system and cheating their fans.
Random Notes from Chris Mack as he's feasting off the Riesling...
WELCOME TO HIS WORLD
Like a drunk tight end looking for a quiet spot in a parking lot to relieve himself, the Steelers offense teetered back and forth Sunday between having no idea what it was doing and doing the wrong thing. For 58 minutes the Steelers and Bengals played within three points of each other, meaning both teams would stick with their game plans.
Or at least you'd think so.
Despite losing their best runner and having to hand the rock to a rookie from Abilene Christian over a dozen times, Cincinnati's offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowksi continued to chip away, recognizing a field position, tight-scoring battle when he saw one. The Bengals averaged just 2.1 yards a carry, but ran 29 times to their 32 pass plays, making it difficult for the Steelers' vaunted pass rush to pin their ears back and come after Carson Palmer.
Pittsburgh coordinator Bruce Arians, despite getting 155 yards from Rashard Mendenhall just six days earlier, forgot about balance and ran just 17 times to 45 pass plays. Perhaps, as he forgot about Willie Parker earlier this season, he simply forgot about Mendenhall on Sunday. The team was only 5-0 when he started, and against a team with two premier CBs like Leon Hall and Jonathon Joseph, why even bother trying to run, right?
That sounds absurd to you and me, but it's a trip into the muddled mind of Bruce Arians, where every weekend provides an opportunity to out-think yourself, a chance to lose a game you should win, and a chance to get completely outcoached.
STRIKE THE POSE
Why is Dion Lewis not getting more Heisman Trophy pub? While he's a longshot to win this year because of the fact that he's a freshman, he's been the best true freshman in the entire country, regardless of position, and has as much to do with the Panthers rise to the top of the Big East as anybody else on either side of the ball. At the very least, it's time to make a publicity push so that next year Lewis starts on the short list for those considered off the hop.
Then again, if you're a Pitt fan, who cares about the Heisman? Everybody who wins goes on to ignominy in the NFL anyway, and the only thing that matters right now is a strong finish, a trip to a BCS game, and possibly the best finish in 30 years.
NEXT...
Seriously?
Another injury?
To another defenceman?
With Alex Goligoski announced as out for the next two-to-three weeks with a lower body injury and the returns of Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang, Tyler Kennedy, and Max Talbot all looking like Turkey Day is closer, the Penguins will continue in self-preservation mode until they can find a way to cobble together some offence outside the two-headed monster of Sidney Crosby and the recently returned Evgeni Malkin.
Part of that cobbling should involve Malkin on the point on the man-advantage, whether he likes playing there or not. In fact, Dan Bylsma shouldn't be called crazy if he considers putting both Malkin AND Crosby on the point at the same time.
They are both superb puck distirubtors, have good, hard shots perfect for deflections and tip-ins (Especially now that Crosby gone to a one-piece twig.), show defensive awareness when necessary, and let's be honest:
Who else is gonna do it?
NEWS FLASH: I'M A JERK
While hosting Inside Pittsburgh Hockey on Thursday night at the Marriott City Center before the Pens' loss to New Jersey, I half-jokingly heckled the Wofford hoops team as their bus dropped them off for their game the next night against Pitt at The Pete, saying "Thanks for coming guys, have fun losing by 40."
Um, yeah...So...Should I apologize now or just pretend like it didn't happen?
Wofford put a scare into the Panthers, leading at the half and forcing Pitt's Gary McGhee to do his best DeJuan Blair impersonation in the final four minutes, going Windex-and-put back style twice with less than two-and-a-half to play and putting Pitt ahead to stay, as they won 63-60.
The bad news is, despite the late comeback the Panthers mounted, they had to do it because they didn't meet a shot they didn't like from beyond the arc. 26% from three point territory will not get it done. I hate to be a jerk, but this isn't dollar drink night at the club. Step back from the bar, look at what you've been dancing with for the past half-hour, think about how embarrassing last call is going to be when they turn up the lights and her face gets a whole lot more buttery, and be a little more choosy in the shot selection department.
So I'm a jerk.
What else is new?
LYRIC of the DAY:
"...only thing that's on my mind, is who's gonna run this town tonight..."
